10 Best External Hard Drives in 2022 (Seagate, Buffalo, and More)

External hard drives should be compatible with your existing operating system plus have enough storage space to meet your needs. 

An external hard drive (HDD, or hard disk drive) used to be just used to save data. But nowadays, with people starting to use external hard drives for so many more tasks such as memory archiving and data sharing, it’s important to find one that meets your particular needs. Let’s take a look at some key items to check off the list when shopping.

If you have a home network set up for sharing on your Wi-Fi router, you can grant access to the hard drive’s contents to any smartphone, tablet, or laptop. This feature is called NAS (network-attached storage), and it's becoming an essential feature in many home data systems. 

Grab a NAS-compatible HDD if you would like to access your hard drive from multiple devices. 

For those who are looking for an external HDD to back up data, it’s recommended that you prepare two identical HDDs and keep the content in both backups the same at all times. This way, should one of your backups get corrupted, you have a backup of the backup. 

Given that backing up files is a tedious task, mirroring capabilities let you secure your files on two devices simultaneously. It might be more expensive, but the security of valuable data usually outweighs the cost. Mirroring can be set up with free software, so you don’t need to be an expert to start making sure your data is never lost.

Some external hard drives have two hard drive partitions inside them and are set up for mirroring from the start. This is definitely useful for those who are considering using external hard drives to backup data.

When choosing an external hard drive, it’s vital to double-check what operating system and what version of that system you’re running on your computer. If it’s not compatible, the hard drive will not be recognized by your device. Usually, the product listing will let you know, but it's always good to double-check what file system it uses.

HDDs are often pre-programmed to a particular format such as NTFS (New Technology File System), APFS (Apple File System), FAT32 (File Allocation Table), HFS+ (Hierarchical File system), and exFAT. 

If one system doesn't work for your computer, you'll need to reformat it to make it recognizable to read and write with your operating system. Luckily, most hard drives are reformattable; note, however, that reformatting an already used hard drive usually means deleting all the information written on it.

NTFS and FAT32 were originally developed for and works best on Windows OS' and, though NTFS can be read on Macs, you cannot write data onto a hard drive with NTFS on a Mac. FAT32, however, works with most operating systems, but it is an older file system and has storage limitations.

On the contrary, APFS and HFS+, which are native to Mac systems, cannot be read by Windows without a third-party app. Also, note that APFS can only be recognized by Macs running High Sierra or later.

Lastly, exFAT is a hard drive format recognizable by both Windows and Mac OS', making it the go-to choice of those who use these two operating systems.  

Also note that, though most external HDDs on the market are compatible with Windows 7 or Mac OS X and newer OS' today, when it comes to gaming consoles like Xbox or Playstation, we recommend looking through the product description and reviews to confirm if the HDD was recognizable by the console.

Another thing to keep in mind is the HDD design and whether it's made to stay at home on your desk or is portable so it can accompany you everywhere. The former typically has a sleek yet more sensitive design, while the latter is rugged and designed for outdoor use. 

A desktop-type drive is meant to stay at home. They typically have several USB ports and need to be plugged into a power outlet. They are usually much bigger than the notebook-class (portable or pocket) external hard drives and tend to weigh a bit more. 

However, though they might be bulkier in size, desktop-class HDDs typically have a large storage capacity, some even allowing up to 24TB. 

Notebook-type external hard drives are made for mobility. The body is lighter and smaller, and only requires a USB port for power. These HDDs are typically designed to be solid and sturdy for on-the-go use. 

When portable external hard drives first came into the market, they suffered from limited disk space, but nowadays, you can find many that have specs comparable to the stationary kind. 

Some people also prefer a portable hard drive if they work with limited desktop space or simply want a cleaner look for their workspace. With that in mind, we recommend looking through the HDD's dimensions to see if it matches your needs.

When considering disk space, it really depends on what you're going to be using the hard drive for. If you're just planning on building upon your computer's storage or using the HDD as a USB to transfer files from one device to another, then anywhere from 64GB to 2TB is enough.

If you want even more space just in case, if you're planning on storing files for the long-term, or if you're packing in a ton of GB-heavy files like movies and games, then getting one that's over 1TB is your best option.

You'll likely want to consider whether you're sharing the disk with family or planning to use it for work, too, so we highly recommend choosing disk space with the future in mind. 

The speed at which an external hard drive transfers data to your computer is limited by the type of port on the computer. If it’s an older standard like USB 2.0, you may find transferring data takes some time. 

USB 3.0 is ten times faster than the previous version (USB 2.0) and will have no problem transferring seamlessly. Note that you'll find labels such as USB 3.1 and 3.2 (Gen 1 or 2) now, with 3.2 being doubly as fast as 3.0s, though 3.0s are still the most common.

To enjoy the fastest transfer speeds, check to see if your computer's port runs on USB 3.0 tech and pair it with a USB 3.0 HDD. Using a USB 3.0 external hard drive on a computer port with the lower version would only perform to the latter's maximum capacity. A quick way to check existing ports is to look at the color. USB 3.0 ports are typically blue. 

For Mac users, there's Thunderbolt, which is even faster than USB 3.0, transferring at speeds eight times faster than USB 3.0s, provided you're using a Thunderbolt 3. Unfortunately, not many PCs offer this option unless it has a USB-C port, for which you can buy an adaptor for. 

On the other hand, Thunderbolt 2 (20 Gbps, comparable to USB 3.2) and 1 (10 Gbps, comparable to USB 3.1) are for Apple products only and still run at pretty reliable speeds. Note that they are not backward compatible, though, as they use different cables than Thunderbolt 3s do.

We also recommend looking through the reviews if the cables that the HDD comes with match the device's capabilities. A poorly-made or loosely-fitting cable can cause intermittent performance. For other issues, an HDD with a warranty gives you an assurance that you can get technical support or replacements. 

Here are a few hard drives we've chosen based on reviews, ranking, and the features they offer. 

Electronics are a huge part of our everyday lives now, but we can never seem to have enough space or enough plugs to charge all those pesky devices! Here are a few more links to check out if you're looking to expand your data filing systems or charging essentials. 

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